Combination knockout tool

ABSTRACT

A combined tool for removing knockouts and mounting rings therefor from electrical fittings or outlet boxes to provide suitable apertures therein to receive the wires and to enable suitable conduits for the electrical wiring to be connected thereto. The tool has a knockout engaging tip having a slot therein for engaging a deflected and partially released knockout to assist in removing the same to provide a conduit receiving aperture. If the aperture produced by the knockout is too small, it can be enlarged by removing the knockout mounting ring secured to the wall by frangible connections. To do this the tool is provided with wings adjacent said tip which are provided with side opening slots adapted to be positioned over the ring, after the knockout has been removed, and the tool manipulated with a rocking motion to remove the ring. The tool thus provides a means for easily and quickly producing conduit receiving apertures.

United States Patent 1 Burns in 3,713,200 51 Jan. 30, 1973 154]COMBINATION KNOCKOUT TOOL [76] Inventor:

Trumbull, Conn. 06611 [22] Filed: June 23, 1971 [21] Appl. No.1 155,890

[52] U.S. C1 ..29/267, 225/103, 81/3.46 R, 254/131 [51] Int. Cl. ..B23p19/04 [58] Field 01Search...8l/3.34, 3.46 R, 3.46 A, 3.1 R; 7/17;29/267, 278, 275; 254/131; 225/103;

Primary Examiner-Granville Y. Custer, Jr. Assistant Examiner-Roscoe V.Parker Attorney-Johnson & Kline Fred R. Burns, 6763 Main Street,

571 ABSTRACT A combined tool for removing knockouts and mounting ringstherefor from electrical fittings or outlet boxes to provide suitableapertures therein to receive the wires and to enable suitable conduitsfor-the electrical wiring to be connected thereto. The tool has aknockout engaging tip having a slot therein'for engaging a deflected andpartially released knockout to assist in removing the same to provide aconduit receiving-aperture. 1f the aperture produced by the knockout istoo small, it can be enlarged by removing the knockout mounting ringsecured to the wall by frangible connections. To do this the tool isprovided with wings adjacent said tip which are provided with sideopening slots adapted to be positioned over the ring, after the knockouthas been removed, and the tool manipulated with a rocking motion toremove the ring. The tool thus provides a means for easily and quicklyproducing conduit receiving apertures.

3 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJAHO 1975 3,713,200

INVENTOR.

,7 r'ed 132520725 BY A COMBINATION KNOCKOUT TOOL Heretofore, knockouts,which are usually round, are secured in the wall of an electricalfitting or outlet box by a single frangible connector. These are usuallyremoved by means of a punch or the like which is applied thereto andstruck with an implement. The first blow usually partially deflects theknockout out of the plane of the wall. It subsequently requiresadditional blows or additional equipment to completely release theknockout to provide the required opening. Should it be desired toenlarge the aperture, it is necessary to apply blows to the mountingring to break the two frangible connections to the wall to remove saidring. These operations are time consuming and sometimes very difficult.

The present invention provides a single combination tool for simply andquickly removing knockouts or mounting rings therefor to provide therequired apertures in the electrical fitting or outlet box by whichconduits are connected thereto.

This is accomplished by the combined tool of the present invention whichhas an elongate shank provided with a handle at one end and a tool headat the other end. The tool head of the present invention has a knockoutengaging tip capable of delivering a blow to a knockout to partiallydeflect the same. The tip has a slot in the end thereof adapted to beinserted over the deflected knockout to, upon manipulation of the tool,cause the removal thereof. Also, the combined tool has lateral wingsadjacent the tip, said wings having aligned side opening slots forreceiving the mounting ring when the tip is inserted in the hole made bythe removal of the knockout and by manipulation of the tool to quicklyrelease the mounting ring from the electrical fitting to enlarge theopening therein.

The present tool can be easily manufactured and is simple to operate toprovide the required conduit connecting openings in the electricalfitting or outlet box.

Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thespecification and claims when considered in connection with theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a front view of the combined tool.

FIG. 2 is a side view of FIG. 1 (partially broken away).

FIG. 3 is an end view of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view of the wall of an electrical fitting oroutlet box.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a knockout being partially deflected.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the tool being manipulated to remove thepartially deflected knockout.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the tool being inserted to remove themounting ring.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of the tool in ring-engaging position.

FIG. 9 isaplan view ofFlG. 8.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view showing the manipulation of the tool toremove the ring.

As shown in the drawings, the combined tool is for removing knockoutsfrom the wall 10 of electrical fittings or outlet boxes, such as shownin FIG. 4. As illustrated, the knockout 11 is circular and is connectedby a single frangible connection 12 to the knockout supporting ormounting ring 13 which in turn is connected to the wall by the twofrangible connections 14.

The tool of the present invention comprises an elongate shank 20 havinga handle 21 at one end and a knockout removing tool head 22 at the otherend. The tool head, as shown in FIGS. 1-3, comprises a tip or punch 23at the end thereof. While this tip can have various shapes as required,it is herein illustrated as being formed by the tapered surfaces 24 toprovide an end surface 25 to deliver the desired force to the knockout11 when applied thereto and the handle 21 struck a predetermined blow inthe direction of the arrow A in FIG. 5. This causes the knockout to bepartially deflected as shown in FIG. 5. To readily remove the knockout,the tip is provided with a slot 26 extending inwardly thereof. The slot26 is inserted over the edge of the partially deflected knockout, asshown'in FIG. 6, and the tool manipulated in the direction of the arrowB which quickly breaks the frangible connection 12 and releases theknockout to provide the aperture by which the usual conduits or BX (notshown) can be attached to the fitting or outlet box.

Should it be desired to enlarge the conduit-receiving aperture, the toolof the present invention can be readily employed to remove the mountingring 13. To accomplish this the tool head 22 has laterally extendingwings 30, 31 adjacent the tip as shown in FIG. 1. The wings have alignedslots 32, 33 extending inwardly from the side edges. As shown, slot 33is longer than slot 32. The longer slot permits the tool head to beinserted through the knockout aperture and moved in the direction of thearrow C until the edge of the wing 30 can pass into the opening. Thetool head is thereafter moved to the position of FIG. 8 wherein the slot32 engages the ring and locates the tool head in interlocked relationonly with the ring as illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9. The tool is rockedin the direction of the arrow D of FIG. 10 and readily breaks thefrangible connections 14, thus releasing the ring 13 from the fitting oroutlet box and provides an opening to which a larger size conduit can beconnected.

Thus it will be seen that the combined tool for removing knockouts fromelectrical fittings or outlet boxes can readily produce the desiredopening therein such as for connecting conduits thereto.

The combined tool of the present invention, which is of a simpleconstruction, can be easily and inexpensively manufactured and can beemployed to quickly and readily remove knockouts as required.

Variations and modifications may be made within the scope of the claimsand portions of the improvements may be used without others.

Iclaim:

1. A combined tool for removing knockouts from electrical fittings andoutlet boxes comprising a shank having a handle at one end and aknockout engaging tip at the other end adapted to engage and deflect aknockout and partially release the knockout in response to a blowapplied to said tool, said knockout engaging tip having a slot extendinginwardly from the end thereof adapted to receive and manipulate saidpartially released knockout to remove the same, side wings on the shankadjacent said knockout engaging tip provided on opposite edges withaligned slots to receive a knockout supporting ring releasably connectedto said outlet box when said tip is inserted through the opening formedby the removed knockout.

2. The invention as defined in claim 1 wherein one of said slots is along slot to enable the tool to be moved into engagement with said ring.

3. The invention as defined in claim 1 wherein one of said slots isshort and of a predetermined length so that 5 said tool when in positionengages only said ring whereby manipulation of said tool removes saidring from the outlet box.

F t t i i

1. A combined tool for removing knockouts from electrical fittings andoutlet boxes comprising a shank having a handle at one end and aknockout engaging tip at the other end adapted to engage and deflect aknockout and partially release the knockout in response to a blowapplied to said tool, said knockout engaging tip having a slot extendinginwardly from the end thereof adapted to receive and manipulate saidpartially released knockout to remove the same, side wings on the shankadjacent said knockout engaging tip provided on opposite edges withaligned slots to receive a knockout supporting ring releasably connectedto said outlet box when said tip is inserted through the opening formedby the removed knockout.
 1. A combined tool for removing knockouts fromelectrical fittings and outlet boxes comprising a shank having a handleat one end and a knockout engaging tip at the other end adapted toengage and deflect a knockout and partially release the knockout inresponse to a blow applied to said tool, said knockout engaging tiphaving a slot extending inwardly from the end thereof adapted to receiveand manipulate said partially released knockout to remove the same, sidewings on the shank adjacent said knockout engaging tip provided onopposite edges with aligned slots to receive a knockout supporting ringreleasably connected to said outlet box when said tip is insertedthrough the opening formed by the removed knockout.
 2. The invention asdefined in claim 1 wHerein one of said slots is a long slot to enablethe tool to be moved into engagement with said ring.